Check if milk is adulterated through an app

NP NEWS 24 ONLINE – Milk is one of the most important and frequently used thing in Indian dining, we start our day with tea which contains milk and we end our day with milk. But is this milk pure?

Long gone are those days when people would get fresh milk that wouldn’t be diluted, adulterated or would differ in its colour or consistency. Around 68.7 per cent of milk and milk products sold in the country is not as per the standards laid down by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), a member of the Animal Welfare Board said Wednesday.

Over the years, milk colour has turned into pristine white, more dilute and has lacked consistency.

Now researchers at IIT Hyderabad are working on a developing a smartphone equipped with sensors that can detect the amount of adulteration in milk. As an initial step the researchers have developed a detector system to measure the acidity of milk through an indicator paper that changes colour depending on the level of adulteration.

The system works in a way in which algorithms can be incorporated into a mobile phone which will accurately detect the colour changes. The research idea has found a place in the November 2018 issue of Food Analytical Methods journal. The research has been led by Professor Shiv Govind Singh.

Singh further said the available methods of milk adulteration detection such as chromatography and spectroscopy are expensive. Also, these methods cannot be converted into low cost easy to use devices and hence, do not appeal to the vast majority of milk consumers in the developing world.

Thus, a need for simple, easy-to-use devices was experienced where consumers can also detect milk contamination. The prototype smartphone-based algorithm analyses the colour of sensor strips that are dipped in milk and then captured using the phone’s camera.

This image will then be converted into pH acidity ranges. After conducting a preliminary test, the team found an accuracy rate of 99.71 per cent for milk that was spiked with contaminants.

The statement cited a recent report by the Animal Welfare Board that stated that 68.7 per cent of milk and milk by-products in the country are adulterated with items like detergent, glucose, urea, caustic soda, white paint and oil. Chemicals such as formalin, hydrogen peroxide, boric acid and antibiotics could also be added to milk to increase shelf life.